Soudamini

Soudamini is a 1951 Indian Telugu-language swashbuckler film, produced and directed by K. B. Nagabhushanam, and presented by Kannamba. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, S. Varalakshmi and Kannamba, with music composed by S. V. Venkatraman. The film was a box office hit.

Plot
Once upon a time, there was a kingdom called Malwa whose royal couple Vikramasena & Saudamini were childless. However, the queen conceives by acquiring a boon from the sage Bodhayana. Anyhow, the negative status occurs with the arrival of an evil courtesan, Vilasavati, who entices & puppets Vikramasena. She also sows vicious seeds in King's mind, which makes him suspect Saudamini's purity and ostracize her. In a forest, a benefactor, Gopala, guards Saudamini, who delivers a baby boy, Udayasena. Years roll by, and Saudamini molds Udayasena as a gallant. Besides, in the fort, promiscuous Vilasavati occupies the throne by clawing chief commander Kampala, and he seizes & plucks off Vikramasena's eyes. Knowing his plight, Saudamini edicts Udayasena to shield his father and starts his journey. Midway, he halts at Kuntala for the blessing of Bodhayana, establishes his path, and crushes on its princess, Hemavati. Besides, Kamapala lusts on Hemavati and impels King Surasena to knit her with him, which Hemavati denies—discerning her daughter's love affair, Surasena prisons the turtle doves who skip. Unfortunately, they detach in between when a wizard seizes Hemavati. Eventually, Saudamini moves to Malwa sensing some premonition about her son when Kamapala rounds up her. Parallelly, Udayasena, with an angel's aid, learns how to recoup his father and triumphs over divine flowers from heaven. In his back, he secures Hemavati, too, and lands at Malwa, but Kamapala destined him to die. At last, the angel rescues him when he defeats the plotters, retrieves his father's vision, and reunites his parents. Finally, the movie ends happily with the marriage of Udayasena & Hemavati.

Cast

 * Akkineni Nageswara Rao as Udayasena
 * S. Varalakshmi as Hemavathi
 * C.S.R. as Vikramasena Maharaj
 * D. S. Sadasiva Rao as Mahamantri Mahamathi
 * S. B. Acharya as Maharshi Bodhayana
 * K. Prabhakara Rao as Kamapala
 * Kannamba as Maharani Soudamini
 * T. R. Rajini as Vilasavathi
 * Vanaja as Devayani

Production
The film was also made in Tamil with a different cast and was released as Saudamini.

Soundtrack
Music composed by S. V. Venkatraman. Lyrics were written by Samudrala Sr.

Reception
Andhra Patrika praised the acting skills of the cast. It critiqued the songs as not that natural and that some of them imitated Kannada and Hindi songs. The portrayal of Akkineni Nageswara Rao's mental status as a closed door was inspired from a 1945-film, Spellbound, and questioned whether the audience understood it, the review continued. It criticised the film for not having enough novelty. Zamin Ryot reviewed the film as a typical film which contains errors, improvements and the storyline of a virtuous wife which are found in other Telugu films. It reviewed that film is engaging despite not having a speciality in the storyline. It has the ethos that the Telugu people would find satisfactory, the review continued. It left a mix of praise and criticism of the cast but appreciated sound and photography.